


Scars Shown

by jaggedwolf



Category: The Strange Case of Starship Iris (Podcast)
Genre: Ficlet, Gen, Implied/Referenced Torture, Scars
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-17
Updated: 2019-10-17
Packaged: 2021-03-16 10:15:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,201
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28580334
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jaggedwolf/pseuds/jaggedwolf
Summary: Park had intended to keep certain things to himself.
Relationships: Agent Park & Rumor Crew
Comments: 6
Kudos: 19





	Scars Shown

The alarm got louder the closer Park got to the mess. He continued walking. He'd save the energy and concentration for running when it was truly necessary. None of the others were saying anything through comms. Suggested nothing too bad had happened.

Or, he thought wryly, that the IGR had boarded their ship in the middle of space and had managed to incapacitate everyone else. He supposed he'd find out.

He slid the door to the mess open to the sight of everyone in various states of undress. They were looking up at a loudly blaring device on the ceiling. Arkady and Captain Tripathi, both in tank tops and shorts, stood on the table below it, the former boosting up the latter as she examined the device. Violet watched them with a wary look on her face, fiddling with her pajama sleeve.

Brian and Krejjh were the nearest to the entrance, leaning on each other, a combined six arms pulling close. Brian nodded at Park as he shut the door behind him. Park let his hand fall away from his sidearm.

McCabe frowned. "No one else knew it was a fire alarm? How?"

"I've never heard a fire alarm make this type of sound before." Violet winced. "Unless it was one of the sounds going on while the original Iris malfunctioned, in which case I couldn't tell you which of those sounds it was."

"All long-distance IGR vessels come equipped with a"- McCabe stopped themselves and looked around the room, their shoulders sinking. Right, McCabe had been a spacer kid. They were already familiar with life on a ship.

"I dunno man, the one on the Rumor never went off." Brian yawned.

The captain glanced back down. "I think the more accurate statement is that, uh, it didn't exist." She did something to the device, and it stopped making that terrible sound.

Ah, the quiet. Park considered returning to his room. He leaned against the wall next to the doorway.

"Park!" Krejjh's voice came from his blind side, and so Park turned his head till his good eye had a view. Not so quickly that the reason would be evident, he hoped. He made a small sound of acknowledgement.

Krejjh's eyes wide open. They freed one of their hands to gesture at Park's upper arm. "Nice!"

Puzzled, Park glanced down. Dread filled his stomach at the sight. He'd been sleeping in a plain white undershirt and boxers, and had only bothered putting on pants when the alarm had woken him up.

He'd forgotten that his arms were bare, and with it that scar. On a different man, the scar might fit well. On him, it was an oddity, even more so than the eye-patch. Jagged scabs and reddish skin twisted together to form an thick unruly line down the pale skin of his arm. It looked like someone had dug a dagger in and dragged, no, twisted it up and down through the flesh.

Someone had.

He looked back up at Krejjh. "Thank you." He recalled those briefs on Dwarnian culture, the value they placed on displaying battle scars. For Krejjh, the scar fit him simply because he was the one who bore it. Strange logic.

"Was that from Zone Z?" asked McCabe nervously. Their brows knitted together in worry.

"Yes," he said, because that was the truth.

He could have lied. Zone Z's records were secured, and Arkady had little motivation to go hacking there. There were other incidents in his file he could have pointed to. He hadn't had to admit that this was something done to him.

To his growing horror, he realized he didn't regret the truthfulness.

The next question came from Violet. "What else did they do?"

She wasn't looking at him in misplaced sympathy, though, merely approaching and looking over the scar. Only professional interest in her eyes.

Park felt better equipped to handle that. "Again, none of the injuries I sustained in Zone Z are in danger of worsening or becoming a cause for concern."

Repeating that statement made him feel a little better. It was true. He had seen and proven it himself since New Jupiter, and that mattered more than a few unhappy memories of his time in Zone Z.

"It only looks terrible," said Park, when no one said anything. The captain and Arkady were off the table, and had joined the crowd with their own curious looks. Park held in a sigh. He should have gone back to sleep as soon as the alarm was silenced, but no, he had to let himself get comfortable. "A curious mercy of the IGR's that it's on the same side I can't see out of."

Arkady snorted at that. Violet and Sana both gave her a look, and she merely shrugged. At least someone appreciated his humor.

"Can I?" asked Violet, her hand hovering over his arm.

Park nodded. If he had refused, that would have said something about him. He knew what it would have said to the IGR. He didn't know what it would have said to the people around him.

Violet's hand was cold, but Park didn't move a muscle. He very carefully focused his attention on Violet's face, and as carefully didn't think about the last person who had touched that arm.

She narrowed her eyes, first at the scar and then at him. "This isn't a superficial injury, Park- whatever did this went through muscle, even if it looks like some of it has been knitted back together."

Violet was getting dangerously close to the truth. He nodded, his voice impassive. "Yes."

"Have you been lying about your injuries?" The captain's voice, warm with an edge to it. He saw McCabe gear up to say something in his defense. Old patterns, but as with the last time, it didn't concern them.

"Captain," he acknowledged. He snapped his eye to Captain Tripathi's. "Nothing has gotten worse since Zone Z."

"He's got you there, Sana" said Arkady, bumping the captain's shoulder with her own. The captain sighs.

"That's no"-the captain shook her head-"it's late, and I think we could all use the sleep. Violet, what's your schedule look like tomorrow?"

"Pretty sure I can fit in what you're about to ask, Captain," replied Violet.

"Great. Park, Violet can look at that scar tomorrow. I'll try to figure out what went wrong with this fire alarm. Everyone, let's get some sleep."

Violet nodded. Her hand left his arm. Park permitted himself to be conscious of his body once more, and filed out with everyone else. He walked at a steady pace, not the fastest or the slowest.

When he turned into his room, a voice stopped him. The captain's. "Hey, Park?"

He turned around. The eye-bags made her gaze no less precise. "I wanted to make it clear that you don't have to share what happened in Zone Z."

"It doesn't bear any relevance." The words were automatic.

"As you've said." The captain looked at him for a second. "Good night, Park."

"Good night, Captain," said Park. He waited till she turned away, and then retreated into his room.

Perhaps he should have invested in a set of pajamas.


End file.
